Police officer who shot George Nkencho claims he "had no choice"

The witness – a member of the Garda [Irish police] Armed Support Unit identified only as Garda A – told the inquest into Mr Nkencho’s death that he believed his use of his firearm to discharge six shots was "necessary" and "proportionate".

Garda A told the sixth day of the inquest at Dublin District Coroner’s Court that he feared for his life after Mr Nkencho lunged at him with a knife. The highly trained specialist described how the deceased tried to stab him on four occasions in the space of around 30 seconds.

The jury of five women and three men were shown a photo of a kitchen knife with a 12cm blade. Garda A said he did not know that the incident was taking place outside the victim’s house and believed Mr Nkencho was ‘walking around randomly’.

He was also unaware that Mr Nkencho’s family had appeared at the front door of the house during the incident. The inquest previously heard that the deceased’s sister, Gloria, had tried to alert gardaí that her brother had mental health issues.

Mr Nkencho, 27, died after suffering gunshot wounds outside his family home at Manorfields Drive, Clonee, Co. Dublin, on December 30, 2020 shortly after he had been involved in a disturbance at a nearby supermarket.

The inquest previously heard evidence that Mr Nkencho, the eldest of five siblings whose family originally came from Nigeria, had carried out an unprovoked assault on a manager at the Eurospar store in Hartstown as well as threatening staff with a knife shortly before the fatal incident.

The deceased’s family claims the level of force used against him was disproportionate. However, the DPP directed that no prosecution should follow over the circumstances of Mr Nkencho’s death following an investigation by the Garda ombudsman.

Garda A told the hearing that his two-member armed support unit was alerted to assist local gardaí with the incident at the Eurospar store. He recalled how he first came across Mr Nkencho close to his home when he was holding a knife and being shadowed by about ten gardaí.

Standing about 10-15 metres away, Garda A said he pointed his firearm at Mr Nkencho and directed him to drop his knife. He claimed the deceased, who was "highly alert and focused" and acting in an aggressive manner, ignored his instructions.

The inquest heard he then followed Mr Nkencho, who was "angry looking and had a snarl on his face", into the driveway of a house on Manorfields Drive. Garda A described how his colleague deployed a taser after Mr Nkencho had suddenly lunged at the witness with his knife. He said he moved towards Mr Nkencho as he fell, but was surprised at how quickly he tried to get up, still clenching his knife.

Garda A said he deployed his own taser while screaming at the deceased to drop his knife. However, he said Mr Nkencho attempted to stab him in the leg while making a lunge getting up, but the knife missed, although he felt some contact.

Garda A said pepper spray, which was then deployed by his colleague, also appeared to have no effect. At that stage, he felt he had no other option but to consider lethal force as he feared Mr Nkencho was trying to kill him.

Garda A said his first shot was not designed to kill, but it had no effect as Mr Nkencho continued to come at him. He believed it was ‘absolutely necessary’ to fire a second shot, but Mr Nkencho continued to swing his knife wildly and narrowly missed the witness’s head.

After firing a third shot, he observed: ‘Nothing had changed.’

The inquest heard Garda A fired three more shots as Mr Nkencho did not appear to be injured and still posed a threat.

"He was going to kill me if he got the chance," he said.

The witness said the final shot was fired after he was in a position close to a hedge where he could move no further.

After Mr Nkencho fell seriously injured to the ground, Garda A said he heard screaming from the front door before his colleague kicked the knife away from Mr Nkencho and first aid was provided to the victim.

Speaking from behind a screen, Garda A told the coroner, Myra Cullinane, that he was unaware that Mr Nkencho had mental health issues, but he did not believe it would have made any difference if he had.

The witness said he felt a need to contain the situation in case Mr Nkencho "absconded". In reply to questions from Dr Cullinane, he said he had followed Mr Nkencho into his garden as he did not know who else was in the area and he had an obligation to protect them.

"I had no idea where he was going. We were not going to allow him wander off," he said.

 Asked why he did not try to immobilise the deceased by shooting him in the arm or leg, Garda A said it was international best practice to aim at the "central mass of the body" when faced with an absolute threat.

Garda A also confirmed that they did not want Mr Nkencho to go inside the house because he did not know who was inside and he feared for their safety.

He stressed that Mr Nkencho was extremely aggressive and that ‘his actions were dictating my response’.

Offering condolences to the deceased’s family, Garda A stressed that he had no other option but to fire his Heckler & Koch MP7 gun because ‘it all happened so fast’.

* This article was originally published on Extra.ie.